Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy.
For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture. And the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history.
Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.
Chapter 1. Diocletian’s Revolution
Chapter 2. Constantine and the Church Ascendant
Chapter 3. The Pagan Counterstroke
Chapter 4. Barbarians and Christians
Chapter 5. A Dreadful Rumor from the West…
Chapter 7. The Rise of Peter Sabbatius
Chapter 9. Of Buildings and Generals
Chapter 13. The Image Breakers
Chapter 14. The Crumbling Empire
Chapter 16. The Glorious House of Macedon
Chapter 17. The Brilliant Pretender
Chapter 18. Death and His Nephew
Chapter 19. Basil the Bulgar Slayer
Chapter 20. The March of Folly
Chapter 21. The Comneni Recovery
Chapter 22. Swords That Drip with Christian Blood
Chapter 23. The Empire in Exile
Chapter 24. The Brilliant Sunset
Chapter 25. The Eternal Emperor
Appendix: Emperors of Constantinople